Front gear for vehicles.



*No. 688,894. Patented Dec. l7, l90l. C. G. STREICH, .IR. FRONT GEARFOR' VEHICLES.

(Application filed Mar. 23, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

as on Pnorcnnnm WASMlNBYON. u. c.

No. 688,894. Patented Dec. 17, I90].

0. G. STREICH, 1R.

FRONT GEAR FOR VEHICLE-S.

(Application filed Mar. 23, 1901.)

(No Model.) ZSheets- S8eet 2..

Z5 2 1 Z2 Z6 :f :ji

5 W9 2 k 7 0 :0 o o E o o MS Z2 9&5.

UNITED STATES CHARLES G. STREIOI-I, JR,

OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN.

FRONT GEAR FOR VEHICLES.

lECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 688,894, dated December17, 1901. Application filed March 23, 1901. Serial No. 52,646. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it ma concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES G. STREIOH, Jr.,residinga t Oshkosh,in thecounty of Winnebago and State of Wisconsin, have in vented a new anduseful Improvement in Front Gears for Vehicles, of which the followingis a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which are a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to improvements in front gears for vehicles.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved form ofevener whereby when one of the wheels of the vehicle strikes anobstruction in the road-bed or passes down into a rut the pulling powernecessary to release said wheel from the obstruction or rut isdistributed equally among all the animals.

A further object is to provide an improved form of boxes in which thethills or poles are secured of such construction as to form a part ofthe gearing or frame of the vehicle, whereby boxes may be provided whichare sufficiently large and are at the same time disposed at a pointsufficiently low to permit the wagon to be turned without danger of anypart of the Vehicle, such as the circle-raisers, striking said boxes.

A further object is to provide for relieving the coupling-pins whichsecure the poles from all the strain when the animals are backed.

With the above and other incidental objects in View the inventionconsists of the devices and parts or their equivalents, as hereinafterset forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View of a front gearfor vehicles embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a side View, theevener and axle being in section and showing one of the wheels in dottedlines. Fig. 3 is a detail View of a fragment of the evener. Fig. 4 is adetail view of one of the poles, the box therefor being in section. Fig.5 is an under view of Fig. 4,, and Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of theboxes.

Referring to the drawings, the numerals 9 9 indicate the front wheels,10 the axle, 11 the spring, and 12 the main portion of the frame, of thefront gear.

The numeral 13 indicates a slidable evener which is adapted to bemovably supported from a fixed portion of the frame, so as to be capableof a sliding movement in a direction transversely of the vehicle. Anydesirable means for sliding or supporting said evener may be adopted;but Iflprefer to employ the particular form of supporting means nowabout to be described. From an intermediate point of the frame 12project forwardly the hounds l4, and to the under side of these houndsis bolted a plate 15, and to the under side of this plate and extendingdownwardly therefrom are two U-shaped straps 16 16, the bends of each Upointing rearwardly. While I have shown two of these straps, yet onlyone may be employed or more than two, as desired. If only one is used,it is desirable that the strap should have considerable width. On theupper side of the evener is a guidebar 17, which is raised a slightdistance above the surface of the evener, excepting the ends thereof,which ends are bent downwardlyand bolted to the evener. The lower legsof the U-shaped straps 16 fit in the space between this guide-bar andthe evener and are free to slide in said space. Y

The numerals 18 18 indicate the draftchains or other suitable connectingdevices. The forward ends of these chains are connected to a ring 19 andthe ring in turn connected to a clevis 20, which clevis straddles theevener and is bolted thereto at a central point. The chains diverge fromthe ring 19, and their rear ends are connected to the axle 10, theconnecting-points being near the wheels.

The gearing illustrated in Fig. l is designed for the attachment theretoof three horses, and the evener therefore in such form would have threewhiftletrees (not shown) connected thereto, the intermediate whiffietreebeing connected to the evener at a point between the two poles or thills21 2t and the outer whiffletrees to the evener at points beyond theouter sides of the poles or thills, so as to position the central horsebetween the poles and the outside horses outside of said poles. In theoperation of this portion of myinvention should one of the wheels of thevehicle strike an obstruction in the road-bed or pass into a rut themajor portion of the strain will not be thrown on the animal on thatside of the vehicle so obstructed, but the draft or strain will beequally distributed on all the horses, and this by reason of thecapability of the evener to slide and also to move backward and forward,as well as to swing in a horizontal plane, with the least possibleretardation. For instance, if the wheel 9 should strike an obstructionor pass into a rut the chain on the obstructed side of the vehicle willbecome tight or practically rigid, while the other chain will becomeslack, and with the continued pull of the animals from the evener 13said evener will slide in a transverse direction away from theobstructed wheel, and thereby all the draft will be exerted directlyfrom said obstructed wheel, and when the wheel is passing over theobstruction or out of the rut the opposite chain, which was beforeloose, immediately becomes tight and the chain which was before tightbecomes slack, while'the evener slides in the opposite direction to thatfirst explained, whereby whipping of the pole is entirely avoided. Ofcourse if the wheel 9 becomes obstructed the reverse operation takesplace.

Besides the equalization and distribution of the pull of the horses myimproved construction prevents'the poles or thills from striking theanimals by reason of sidewise sway or whipping of the poles, which isnow such a common source of annoyance to the animals, and also preventsthe breakage of poles.

My construction, furthermore, permits the vehicle to be driven withoutthe necessity of using a pole or tongue, neck-yokes, or polechains,thereby taking the strain off the horses necks.

While the specific form of straps 16 are the preferred devices forslidin gly supporting the evener 13, yet, as previously stated, I do notwish to be understood as limiting myself to such specific construction,inasmuch as variousmodifications could be resorted to for permitting thesame sliding movement of the evener.

} My invention also includes means for attaching the thills or poles.This consists in providing boxes 22 22. These boxes have extending fromtheir inner sides the arms 23 23, the arms of each set projecting atright angles to each other and one arm of each set being secured to aside piece of-the gear and the other arm to the front piece of saidgear. The arms 23 23 and the boxes form the principal part of theironing of the front portion of the gear and do away with the old styleof ironing the front portion of the gear, which old style was morecomplicated and expensive. For convenience the steps 24 24 of thevehicle may project laterally from the outer sides of these boxes.Located in line with and to the rear of the front boxes and secured tothe sides of the frame just above the axle are sleeves 25 25. The polesor thills 21 are passed through the boxes and are thrust rearwardly tosuch an extent that their rear ends pass into the sleeves 25, in whichsleeves they loosely fit. The poles are secured in the boxes 22,however, by means of removable pins 26, which pass "through registeringopenings in the boxes and pole, as most clearly shown in Fig. 4. Thepins are advisedly secured to the free ends of short chains, (notshown,) the other ends of said chains being secured to the poles. Itwill be noticed that the boxes 22 are provided on their under sides withparallel transverse lugs 22, which lugs serve to take the strain fromthe bolts which hold the boxes in place by reason of the fact that theouter ends of the front bar of the frame 12 extend beneath the boxes 22and fit between these lugs. The said lugs also add to the strength ofthe weakest point of the gear.

In many forms of construction the rear ends of the poles are secured atpoints near the axle by means of bolts, and as these bolts are in a veryinaccessible position it is quite difficult to effect their removal. Inmy improved construction the rear ends of the poles fit loosely in thesleeves 25, while the securing-pins pass through the boxes 22 at theforward portion of the gear, and hence are in position to be readilyaccessible. It will be seen that by providing the forward boxes with thearms 23 23, which arms are secured respectively to the forward and sidebars of the gearing or frame 12, said boxes form a part of the ironingof the gear or frame of the vehicle, and by this construction I provideboxes 22 which are amplylarge and at the same time are disposed at asufficiently low point to allow the wagon to turn without danger of anyof the parts, such as the circle-raisers, striking such 'boxes. By thiscombination of parts I am enabled to use my invention with almost anyform of wagon-gear, and I am furthermore permitted to extend the pole orthill back a considerably greater distance than has heretofore beencustomary, whereby the fifth-wheel and king-bolt are relieved ofconsiderable strain. Another advantage of this manner of securing thepoles resides in the fact that by the employment of the boxes 22 thenecessity of using hounds similar to the hounds 14 for the oppositesides of the poles 21 is avoided. Furthermore, the boxes not only formguideboxes at the forward portion of the gear, but actually constitute aportion of the gearing for draft purposes-that is to say, the pull isexerted from said boxes, provided a lead team is hitched to the regularhorses, and at the same time the position of the boxes is such that thesteps 24 may conveniently extend outwardly therefrom. This manner ofsecuring the poles possesses the still further advantage of providingfor the ready converting of the vehicle from a two-horse vehicle to athreehorse vehicle, or vice versa. This only necessitates taking out thepins 22, then removing the two poles, next passing one of said polesbetween the side members of the hounds 14, and finally running the pin26 through an opening 27 inthe hounds 14 and through the IIO esse iregistering opening in the pole, or Vice versa. Each pole is alsopreferably provided on its under side with a transverse stop-bar 28,saidwith the forward edges of the under sides of the boxes 22, and bythis arrangement when the animals back the strain occasioned by thebacking is not entirely directed against the pins 26, but the majorportion of said strain comes against said under edges of the boxes.

What I claim as my invention is 1. The combination of a frame, an axle,Wheels mounted on said axle, an evener-bar carried by the frame andconstructed to have a sliding movement transversely of the frame,

and draft-chains having their rear ends con nected, respectively,to thefront axle at points near the wheels, and their forward ends convergedand connected to a central point of the evener-bar.

2. The combination of a frame, an axle, wheels mounted on said axle, anevener-bar carried by the frame and constructed to have a slidingmovement transversely of the frame, and also a back-and-forth movement,and draft-chains having their rear ends connected, respectively, to thefront axle at points near the Wheels, and their forward ends convergedand connected to a central point of the evenerbar.

3. The combination of a frame, an axle, wheels mounted on said axle, anevener-bar carried by the frame and constructed to have aslidin gmovement transversely of the frame, and also a horizontally-swingingmovement, and draft-chains having their rear endsconnccted,respectively,to the front axle at points near the wheels, andtheir forward ends converged and connected to a central point of theevener-bar. t

4. The combination of a frame, an axle,

wheels mounted thereon, a U -shaped strap or straps extending downwardlyfrom the frame, an evener-bar, a guide-bar connected to the upper sideof the evenerbar in such manner as to leave a space between it and theupper said space adapted to side of the evener-bar,

receive the lower legs of the U-shaped strap, and draft-chains connectedat their forward ends to an intermediate point of the evenerbar, andhaving their rear ends connected, respectively, to the front axle atpoints near the wheels.

5. The combination of the frame of a vehicle, a box located at theforward portion thereof, said box provided with arms projecting at rightangles thereto, one of the arms being fast to the side bar of the frame,and the other of the arms being fast to the front bar of said frame, athill or pole adapted to be passed through the box, and means forsecuring said thill or pole in the box.

6. The combination of the frame of a vehicle, a boxsecured to theforward portion thereof, said box provided on its outer side with anoutwardlyprojecting step, a thill or pole adapted to be passed throughthe box, and a securing-pin extending through an opening in the box andthrough a registering opening in the thill or pole.

7. The combination of the frame of a vehicle, a. box located at theforward portion thereof, said box provided with arms projecting at rightangles therefrom, one of the arms being fast to the side bar of. theframe, and the other of the arms being fast to the front bar of saidframe, a sleeve secured to and projecting laterally from the outer sideof the side bar of the frame at a distance to the rear of the box, athill or pole passing through the box and having its rear end looselyfitting in the sleeve, and means for securing the thill or pole in thebox.

8. The combination of the frame of a vehicle, the end of the front barthereof extend ing laterally beyond the side bar, a box lo cated at theforward portion of the frame,- and provided upon its under side withtransverse lugs, the projecting end of the front bar 5 of the framefitting between said lugs, a thill or pole adapted to be passed throughthe box, and means for securing said thill or pole in the box.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES Gr. STRETCH, JR

Witnesses:

A. L. MORSELL, ANNA V. FAUsT,

IOO

